PowerLink is a lightweight Windows application designed with a single goal in mind: to help users restart or shut down the computer, or activate the hibernate mode on the breeze.

It comes in handy especially for Windows 8 users who can’t get used to working without the Start button, as it brings back the basic shutdown functionality right on their screen.

Basic functionality

The installation process doesn’t take too much time and at the end of it, the utility places three shortcuts on your screen, namely Shutdown, Restart, and Hibernate.

In order to perform the desired action, you are only required to perform a double-clock operation on the corresponding icon, and the application automatically triggers the task. Additionally, you may pin the programs to the taskbar, so you can easily activate the desired mode.

Since it doesn’t require much computer knowledge to work with this small app, even less experienced users can master the utility with minimum effort. During our testing we have noticed that PowerLink carries out a task quickly, and no errors showed up throughout the entire process. As it would be expected from such a small utility, it remains light on system resources, so it doesn’t hamper computer performance, nor interfere with other programs’ functionality.

Bottom line

To sum things up, PowerLink offers a simple software solution when it comes to helping you restart or shut down the computer, or activate the hibernate mode. It can be easily configured and installed by all types of users, regardless of their experience level.

PowerLink was reviewed by Ana Marculescu, last updated on March 20th, 2014